Category: Winter

Here’s a novel way to make your way down a skihill: snowbiking. It was only a matter of time before someone thought of putting skis on a bike. It looks pretty comfortable to me, and a lot easier on the knees than skiing. Not a Canadian invention (it’s Austrian), but a great way to have fun on the slopes.

When people think of winter on the west coast, they think skiing at Whistler, and possibly at the three local mountains. But what about snowshoeing on Vancouver’s north shore? This sport is gaining popularity, as it is a perfect family sport, costs relatively little, requires little or no training, and is a great workout. Mt. Seymour and Cypress both rent snowshoes. Both mountains also offer some great snowshoe tours: Cypress | Seymour.

If you have your own, you can snowshoe for free in the provincial parks around Cypress and Seymour. If you get up early, the sunrises on Seymour are stunning. You’ll be alone, looking down on a city of 2 million people, wondering why no-one takes the time to come up.

If you want to take snowshoeing a step further, why not sign up for a Yeti snowshoe race? Running on snowshoes is not as hard as it seems, and it’s a great workout!

Dogsledding is not only for the professionals racing in the Yukon Quest – why not try it yourself? The folks at Cold Fire Creek Dog Sledding in Jasper ofer some fun dogsledding tours, from a quick 1 hour trip to a half day or even a moonlight tour.

Many people have heard of the Iditarod dogsled race (“Alaska, where men are men and women win the Iditarod”), but the lesser-known Yukon Quest, from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, Alaska, is actually quite a bit tougher, because of the terrain and the cold. The trail follows the historic Gold Rush and Mail Delivery routes from the turn of the 20th Century, leading from Whitehorse north to Dawson city, and then west across the Alaska border to Fairbanks.